Posters with the design of a memorial to commemorate the Armenian Genocide to be built in Memorial Park in Pasadena, on display during Pasadena City Council meeting, at the Pasadena City Hall, in Pasadena, CA., Monday, September 9, 2013. (Photo by James Carbone for the Pasadena Star News)

People watch the monitor displaying the design of a memorial to commemorate the Armenian Genocide, during a discussion of the memorial to commemorate the Armenian Genocide, to be built in Memorial Park in Pasadena, during Pasadena City Council meeting, at the Pasadena City Hall, in Pasadena, CA., Monday, September 9, 2013. (Photo by James Carbone for the Pasadena Star News)

PASADENA>> In front of dozens of supporters from the local Armenian community, the City Council on Monday unanimously approved a proposal for a memorial dedicated to the 1915 Armenian Genocide, which will be erected in Memorial Park.

Thirty-six people submitted comment cards to speak Monday night before the council, the majority of whom spoke in favor of the project, which would be completed by April 24, 2015, to mark the 100th anniversary of the slaying of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks.

In addition, 93 others in attendance signed a petition of support submitted to the council. More than 1,000 other community members signed an earlier petition in support of the project submitted to the city.

Former Pasadena Police Chief Barney Melekian, who is also on the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee, said the monument is an important commemoration of an event in Armenian history that many, including the U.S. government, do not recognize as a genocide.

“Most people have no idea of the significance of April 24, part of this is because the Turkish government continues to deny that this event ever happened,” Melekian said. “This memorial should not only be a memorial to the past, but it should serve as a beacon for future generations to ensure they do not forget, not just the Armenians but all victims of injustice.“

Much of the discussion among the public and council members Monday night centered on the memorial’s location.

A handful of military veterans and other speakers said staff’s recommendation of Memorial Park was inappropriate, as the park should be reserved for American military casualties.

“If this memorial is as successful as I think we hope it is, I fear it will come at the cost of changing the meaning of Memorial Park,” one veteran David Alexander said. “The memorial is fantastic, I think it merits its own park.”

Others, including Councilmembers Jacque Robinson, Terry Tornek and Margaret McAustin questioned staff about spacing in the park for crowds, the size of the memorial and the process of selecting the memorial location. Tornek, Robinson and Mayor Bill Bogaard suggested that staff develop a better policy on approving public memorials in the future.

However, many other veterans, some of them Armenian, spoke in support of building the monument at the centrally located park. Councilman Victor Gordo agreed, arguing that the Armenian community’s strong integration within the Pasadena community should merit the memorial’s inclusion in Memorial Park.

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“I think it’s important as people go to Memorial Park to honor the men and women who have served in the armed forces, it’s an important reminder to young people and our community why it’s important to have an armed force ... to in many ways prevent atrocities such as this,” Gordo said. “This has also become a Pasadena story because so many Pasadenans have been affected by this.”

The city has officially recognized and commemorated the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide for 30 years. In May 2012, a group of local Armenian leaders came together to form the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee (PASAGMC) and submitted an application for the memorial in May 2012. The final design, by Pasadena Art Center Environmental Design student Catherine Menard, was chosen from 17 proposals submitted in a design competition conducted last fall.

The memorial design consists of a sculptural tripod from which a drop of water would fall every 21 seconds into a basin beneath it. Approximately 1.5 million drops will fall over the course of a year. The tripod would be surrounded by stone paving, benches and a formal hedge in a circular pattern. It would be 28 feet in diameter and 16 feet in height.

“It’s not just a tripod, the scaffold represents where the leaders of our nation were hung by the Ottoman Turkish government at the outset of the genocide,” PASAGMC board member Bill Paparian said.

The proposed memorial became a controversy earlier this year within the local Armenian community after two different groups said they planned to submit competing designs. However, members of the Pasadena-based Armenian Community Coalition, which objected to the PASAGMC design initially, did not attend the council meeting to express opposition.

Kevork Keushkerian, of the Armenian Community Coalition, said though his group would still like to see its design incorporated into the one submitted to the council, its members decided to step back so the monument can move forward.

“We decided not to go and object to the proposal because we thought the monument would represent all Armenians,” Keushkerian said. “It doesn’t matter as to who is behind it as long as it is done.”

Paparian said the PASAGMC has already raised $40,000 to build the memorial, which will be funded and maintained entirely by donations — and after council approval, he said, there is still a ways to go to reach the monument’s “high six-figure” price tag.

Ultimately, Tornek and other council members concurred that despite some objections to the relevance of the memorial in Pasadena or the location in Memorial Park, the monument is an important addition to the community.

“I think an Armenian Genocide memorial is vital to this community,” Tornek said. “I think it will provide a tremendous education value on something that is inextricably tied up in Pasadena as well as the world.”